Category Archives: Upcoming shows!

When, where, who, and how much. The four questions that everyone really wants answered in life.

12/1 – Brass Bows, Fine Fine Titans, Jake Simmons And The Little Ghosts, Proconpro, and Ami Saraiya And The Outcome @ The Courthouse

Rock N’ Roll extravaganza, this Saturday at the Courthouse.  It’s kind of like what your parents were doing at our age except its 2012, so less LSD.  But no worries, There will be plenty of Rock N’ Roll, dancing, and all the booze your arms can carry to the show.  It’s free as always, but Fine Fine Titans and Ami Saraiya are on the road so let’s help them get home.  What I’m trying to say is bring donations.  We’ve also got three bands from Kalamazoo, so, with a total of five bands, this shit’s going late.

Starts at 9 – Check the links below – bring donations – peace

Fine Fine Titans – Here from Grand Rapids to get us feeling feisty enough to start dancing violently.  Fine Fine Titans is an intense hardcore experience full of soaring screams, rockin’ power vocals, metal chugs, melodic bridges, and no deficiency of two-stepping break downs – be prepared.

http://www.facebook.com/finefinetitans/app_204974879526524

Ami Saraiya And The Outcome – Going to slow it down a bit and add a little of Ami Saraiya’s soulful jazz singing to the lineup.  Sure to make you feel good, the outcome lays down a smooth, exciting cabaret pop-rock, while Saraiya’s beautiful melodies reel in the listener – once again, be prepared.

http://amisaraiyaandtheoutcome.bandcamp.com/

Brass Bows – Get drunk, get in front of a crowd, and play some Kalamazoo Rock N’ Roll, this four-some knows how to do it.  Brass Bows is always a good time with lots of dancing, maybe even some wild antics and explicit behavior.

http://www.facebook.com/brassbows/app_204974879526524

Jake Simmons And The Little Ghosts – Kalamazoo’s Jake Simmons plays Rock N’ Roll and folk – all of it.  Simmons and the Little Ghosts incorporate bits and pieces of a long Americana tradition, combined with emotive and soulful vocals, to form a complete and novel American sound.

http://www.facebook.com/jakesimmonsmusic/info

Proconpro – More Kalamazoo Rock N’ Roll! Proconpro lays rock down, strips it bare and proceeds to build it back up with whatever they please – as long as it’s rockin’

http://www.myspace.com/proconpro

RESPECT THE BANDS. RESPECT THE VENUE. RESPECT EACH OTHER.

THURSDAY 11/29: Oreo Jones & DJ Action Jackson with DMA, Finaocardi, Beniam, Heart-Attack Zack, Deniro Swiper, and Kid Dew @ THE BLACK LODGE

Thursday night The Black Lodge will host several hip-hop acts from around Kalamazoo and abroad.

Oreo Jones and DJ Action Jackson are from Indianapolis, currently on their Behind the Lips tour. Oreo is a rapper of the absurdist tradition, evoking comparisons to other playful hip-hop outfits like Das Racist or Odd Future, with the same good-times-party bent of Digital Underground. Think a block party co-hosted by Dave Chapelle and Tim & Eric.

Finaocardi is a local MC whose party-ready tunes serve as a smokescreen to a dynamic lyricist with bombastic delivery and a fantastic lyrical bent. His body of work trojan horses pertinent social themes with songs about chillin’ at home and getting down.

Beniam is an up-and-coming rapper in the Kalamazoo area who explores unique territory other rappers don’t necessarily delve into. He talks about highly spiritual and personal topics, and touches on issues that will satisfy your cerebral cravings.

Heart-Attack Zack melds together a sense of whimsical humor and personal introspection. A Drake or Kid Cudi who is perhaps less self-serious and more apt to rap as much about life’s absurdities and it’s struggles.

Deniro Swiper  is a vicious female MC who takes the traditional aggressive machismo of Hip-Hop music and turns it on its head, essentially taking the bullhorn and demolishing all misogynistic haters.

Kid Dew and his brother Why J will be coming down from Grand Rapids to present their street level rhymes and beats.

Please bring donations to support the touring MCs and DJs. Show starts at 9 o’ clock. Respect the house (and respect Black Fabio).

11/25 – George Costanza, A Life of Arctic Sounds, Underscore Adia @ Victory House

Tomorrow night at Victory House: plenty of emotionally charged, soul-wrenching rock to soothe the Sunday doldrums. George Costanza is on the road playing a couple shows with Underscore Adia and A Life of Arctic Sounds, both from Pennsylvania.  The three are finishing up their mini-tour here in the Vine – Don’t miss it!

Check out the links below.  Don’t forget donations. please and thank you.

Underscore Adia – A fierce, yet steady, litany of post-hardcore and pop-punk sounds- provocative in all the right ways

Underscore Adia – Bandcamp

A Life of Arctic Sounds – an acoustic duo from Pittsburgh,  whose beautifully haunting ambiance doesn’t drown out the essence or the rhythm

A Life of Arctic Sounds – Bandcamp

George Costanza – Kalamazoo’s own trio of buddies making smooth melodies without skimping on the hardcore or the hard emotion

George Costanza – Bandcamp

and as usual . . .

Respect the bands.  Respect the venue.  Respect each other.

TONIGHT: I’m William Cutting, Neqriem, and Lacerations @ THE BLACK LODGE

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Tonight The Black Lodge will be celebrating Black Friday right with a trio of metal bands the local Michigan area.

I’m William Cutting, soulful metal troubadours from South Haven.

Lacerations, Progressive Metal from Battle Creek.

Neqriem, Death Metal from Kalamazoo.

Show starts at 8 o’ clock. Donations for out-of-towners are suggested.

TONIGHT: Mehrunes Dagon, Bert, Statia, and Entropy Elephant @ THE BLACK LODGE

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Tonight The Black Lodge will host a docket of acts poised to scratch all kinds of experimental musical itches.

Coming through from parts outside the Kalamazoo sphere are two metal bands that are completely unafraid to dive headfirst into strange sonic territories.

BerT are from Lansing, weaving together the slow, rolling thunder of doom metal with experimental electronics to produce a highly unique sound that pricks the eardrums on several fronts. Using their metal instrumentation as a baseline, they build on it with noise music techniques to produce a peculiar yet highly entertaining hybrid beast that implements the best of both genres.

Mehrunes Dagon are a doom metal band from Grand Rapids who execute the traditional tidal sounds indicative of the genre. Listening to their music is similar to watching a combustion engine being built piece-by-piece, building their rolling guitars to exciting heights and crescendos.

They will be getting local support from Kalamazoo experimentalists Statia and ENTROPY ELEPHANT.

Statia has recently been making the rounds in the Vine Neighborhood, with a crunchy metal sound that borrows as much from contemporary metal as it does 70’s prog rock.

ENTROPY ELEPHANT is a new side project from local musical mad scientist Sid Redlin. Thrown together on the fly for a fill-in gig at Louie’s several weeks ago, Sid quickly realized that he had created a monster which he will be gleefully unleashing on The Black Lodge.

Show starts at 9PM. Please bring donations for the out-of-town bands!

11/17 – Survivalist, Gypsyblood, Regret, The Informer, Lost in Translation @ The Courthouse

Getting hardcore this Saturday at the Courthouse, we’ve got three touring acts coming though (Survivalist – Columbus, Gypsyblood – Chicago, Regret, The informer – Kansas City) plus Kalamazoo’s own Lost in Translation.

Survivalist – Post-Punk band from Columbus who keeps the math rock melodic and progressive without losing the rough edges

http://www.facebook.com/SRVVLSTBand/app_204974879526524

 Gypsyblood – Lo-Fi indie rock from Chicago – noisy but always steady – raw, yet immediately captivating

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gypsyblood/140189656034033?sk=app_204974879526524

Regret, The Informer – Post-punk screamo band from Kansas City – get ready to throw down!

http://regrettheinformer.bandcamp.com/

Lost In Translation – Instrumental Indie Rock trio jamming mathy goodness

 Please bring some cash for donations!

Respect the venue. Respect the bands. Respect each other.

A Kalamazoo Classic at Milhouse 11/16

As someone who has been slowly imersing themselves in the local music scene of Kalamazoo over the last few years, I am excited for the list of musicians playing at Milhouse this Friday. These are long-standing artists in the community, who would have easily been seen on the same bill a few years ago, but as it stands times have changed, people have moved and taken on other responsibilities, now making some of these artists a rare treat. Even if you didn’t spend the past few years catching shows with these artists, or (like I often did) just catching their names on flyers, this music will move you even without nostalgia or personal connection.

GLOWFRIENDS are the quintessential shoegaze family band of Kalamazoo, who have been putting on emotive, spacey shows in the area (and on tour) for many years. Often seen up on stage supporting touring shoegaze acts, it’s a rare sight to have them performing in a basement venue.

JES KRAMER has been making music in Michigan since 17, and has made many friends in Kalamazoo in the process. Her heart-felt casio-pop and loop pedal prowess is renowned. Although Jes is still writing and performing, she can only occasionally make it into Kalamazoo from Grand Rapids, do to her busy family life, so see her while you can!

SON DROP is the former Kalamazooan James Duke’s rock ‘n’ roll brain baby. James has moved to Minnesota, so Son Drop shows are now few and far between. Come see James’ charming smile and hear his relateable get-stuck-in-your-head-and-sing-without-thinking songs. Son Drop will also be releasing a new album at this show!

And Finally, KOLKA KARMADON will be reuniting. For those who do not know, Kolka Karmadon was a music project featuring Jes Kramer, James Duke, and Travis of Circle, Get Square! These folks wrote songs about natural disasters, and created an album that is likely my most played album by any local artist.

And for some reason they were filmed performing one of these songs for mlive in 2008.

Show will be at 8:30. Bring money to buy merch. Respect your surroundings.

TONIGHT – Nervous Passenger, Forget the Times, Johhny Foreigner, Jake Simmons & the Little Ghosts @ Milhouse

Nine o’clock tonight at Milhouse, two traveling groups and two local favorites will bring sounds to one of the Kalamazoo underground music community’s favorite basements.

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Johnny Foreigner, coming in all the way from the UK, is an energetic four-piece pop punk outfit with some experimental leanings.  They’re hitting up the east coast, as well as the midwest on this tour.

Swerp Records labelmates Nervous Passenger are out with JF.  They provide the type of throaty pop punk commonly brought to the Vine Neighborhood by Fat Guy House.  They describe themselves and their music by saying “…songs are about girls and/or friends and/or beer, and they’re super fun to sing along to.”

Local support for the night comes from experimental/noise rock favorites Forget The Times, as well as left-wing anthem singers/Ted Leo fanatics Jake Simmons & the Little Ghosts.  Donations will be accepted and are encouraged for the traveling bands.  Attendees should plan for a fun night, but also to be respectful of the space, the others attending, and the people organizing/helping out with/playing the show.

TONIGHT: Jerry Fels and the Jerry Fels w/ Boy Becomes Hero, Nick DeMott, and Neil Shah @ THE BLACK LODGE

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Tonight The Black Lodge will be hosting an acoustic night featuring Jerry Fels and the Jerry Fels, who is actually just one man. Currently on tour to celebrate his 2011 release “Evil is the Root of All Money,” Jerry is a solo acoustic performer whose music has both a poignant introspection and a wonderful sense of humor. With such songs as “Bad Bad Bad Bad Money” and “Girl You Make Me Want to Change My Number,” Jerry’s tongue is planted firmly in his cheek.

Supporting him are several local performers including Boy Becomes Hero, folk songs with a distinctly personal bent.

Nick DeMott, who veers through various topics with a whimsical appreciation for the American roots folk/ blues sound.

Rounding it out will be Neil Shah, best known for his involvement with several popular Kalamazoo bands like Ackley Kid, Witch Fingers, and Statia.

Show starts at 9PM. Please bring donations for the traveling troubadour.

11/11: High-school Wishes On a Few Acoustics–No Fun House

EPF--seemed appropriate.

Singer against meadow. That’s about the sound of the show tomorrow night.

It’s going to be a Kalamazoo kind of night, right? There are some locals, or used-to-be locals, looking to provide some excellent acoustic-based music for No Fun House goers tomorrow night at 8:30 p.m. Apparently there will also be pasty, nervous, film-maker there pleading for interviews, but it may be safe to ignore him as just another victim of too much music, schooling, and un-protected basement crawls. Remember, never sweat next to exposed dry-wall.

The proficiently productive performer recently returned to Kalamazoo as part of his vinyl-release tour Small Houses will be featured tomorrow night. To go with the release tour, Jeremy Quentin has also prepared a 4-piece band to back his guitar/harmonica combo, although this isn’t quite kosher with the No Fun House dialect, so it’ll be a surprise. Back to the music. The Ron-Swanson looking fellow has been featured everywhere from Daytrotter to A.V. Club, but for reasons beyond his formidably hirsute lip. Jeremy Quentin’s sound seems founded in the same love shared  for his shirts–trotting on the edge of the country as a cowboy, singing a tune with a voice that seems grasped with the tinge of Marlboro’s. Most songs sound sad; more tears than whiskey.

Another Kalamazoo native, Elisabeth Pixley-Fink will be featuring her willow-the-whisp, Gary Jules-esque, deep-forest vocals that are as childishly playful as they are nervously morose. While usually paired with piano, EPF’s sound is vaguely reminiscent of She & Him, but more complicated in its experimental poetics and its bloody exploration of folk-songs. Fiddling with a banjo, an ever-so bitterly tuned piano, and a bowler hatted guitar player, Pixley-Fink seems to be the natural progression of a new-folk movement. Even if performing solo (without common companion Andru Bemis), EPF would be treat to for those that wish to see the state of all those summer-backyards that we used to play tag in, underneath the willow, and beyond the hills. As fun skipping down a dirt road, while enigmatic as the hole burrowed behind the oak tree.


Silphium Blooms is the on-going solo project of Tyler Basset (of the currently on-hiatus Neu Spryghts), an exhibition in meandering, grumbling, technical acoustic guitar playing–sounding a bit like an independent film-soundtrack from the 90’s. Most of this is based off the demo released this past Wednesday on Silphium Blooms’ bandcamp–so I suppose your opinion is just as fine as mine, mayhaps better. Listen for yourselves below:

Respect all things, including the music, yourself, and the house.

Donations are always nice.